Rescue-buoy.



PATENTED SEPT. 25

(I. U. QUARTERMAN.

RESCUE BUOY.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. a1, 1906.

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ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RESCU Specification of Letters Patent.

E-BUOY.

Patented Sept. 25, 1906.

Application filed an ry 31. 1906. Serial No. 298,815.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JERUSHA CATHERINE QUARTERMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Titusville, in the county of Brevard and State of Florida, have invented a new and Improved Rescue-Buoy, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a buoy especially adapted for use in marine life-saving service, but which is also a universal marine life-preserver so constructed that a maximum of handholds are obtained so arranged that a person grasping at the buoy at any point in its area can quickly and instinctively secure a firm grip thereon.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a buoy of the character mentioned which. is exceeding buoyant and of simple, durable, and economic construction and which can be readily and conveniently towed.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved buoy, and Fig. 2 is a section taken practically on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

The body of the buoy is in the form of a tubular ring cushion constructed of rubber or other air-tight material, which cushion is inflated with air through the medium of a suitably-located valve 10, of any desired c011- struction. The cushion-body A of thebuoy is inclosed in a network B of twine, rope, or

like material, and the said netting is attached to or is woven around one or more circular strands of rope 11, one of said strands being shown in the drawings, and the said rope strand 11 extends around the central peripheral portion of the cushion-body A, as is best shown in Fig. 2.

Arope or cableC is looped around the cushion-body A in a manner to form a series of loop-handholds 12, and the said rope C between the handholds 12 is secured to the peripheral outer or stay rope 11 by lashings 14 or in any other approved manner. A second rope D is likewise looped around the peripheral portion of the cushion-body A; but the loop-handholds 13, formed in this second outer rope, are shorter than the handholds 12 formed from the rope C. The shorter handholds 13 are made to cross the spaces between the longer loop-handholds 12, so that a series of handholds is provided for the said inflated body A so arranged that if a struggling persons hand reaches any portion of the said buoy a firm and instant grip may be obtained and also a quick support be provided for both hands, if necessary.

The surrounding rope .12 is a supporting or strengthening rope for the body of the buoy, and a ring 15, also preferably made of rope, is secured to this stay-rope 11 in any desired manner, and a tow-rope 17 is connected with dium of a snap-hook 16, as is shown in Fig. 1. The said tow-rope 17 is also preferably provided with a wire 18 extending through it from end to end, so as to prevent the said tow-rope from tangling up where it crosses itself.

It may be here remarked that the looped rope D is attached to the stay-rope 11 by lashings or in any other suitable way and that the net surrounding the body of the buoy affords also handholds for the person using the buoy.

The buoy constructed. as above described is particularly useful in the life-saving serv ice, as the life-saver can readily tow several of such buoys and pass them to struggling persons, enabling such a person to grasp the buoy to support himself, and thus be towed ashore without endangering the life of the rescuer by a strangling hold or by being drawn under the water.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A rescue-buoy consisting of an inflatedring body, a netting encircling the said body, a stay-rope secured to the netting and peripherally encircling the said body, a marginal rope formed in a series of loops, said rope being attached to the stay-rope between the loops, a second marginal rope formed in a series of shorter loops, said loops crossing the spaces between the longer loops, the second rope forming the shorter loops being also secured to the said stay-rope between the loops.

2. A rescue-buoy consisting of an inflatedring body, a netting surrounding the said body, a stay-rope secured to the netting and peripherally surrounding the said body, a marginal rope formed in a series of loops,

the said ring 15, preferably through the mewhich marginal rope between the loops is atstrand whereby to prevent the tow-rope r0 tached to the stay-rope, a second marginal from becoming entangled with itself.

rope formed in a series of shorter loops which In testimony whereof I have signed my cross the spaces between the longer loops, name to this specification in the presence of the second rope having the shorter loops two subscribing witnesses therein being also secured to the said stay- JERUSHA GATHERIN E QUARTERMAN. rope, a ring secured to the said stay-rope, and Witnesses: a tow-rope attached to the said ring, the tow- JOHN HENRY,

rope being provided with an inclosed wire M. E. QUARTERMAN. 

